slkinsey
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Posts posted by slkinsey
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The point I was trying to make upthread, perhaps not very well and expanded upon by others more informed than I, is that a restaurant has to make a certain profit on average per diner to stay in business. So for example, it may be the case that the target price point is around $200 per person. Let's suppose that the food usually costs around $100 per person and the wine usually costs $100 per person. As we know, most of the profit from that $200 meal comes from the wine. The $100 of food, after various expenses (labor, linens, flatware, etc.) are added in, may cost close to $100. The wine may cost $25 at wholesale, with the real cost (including labor, storage, stemware, etc.) being closer to $45. So, the restaurant is theoretically making $55 bucks on the meal.
People look at that and think, "they're making an obscene profit on the wine." The restaurant has to make its 55 bucks (a completely hypothetical number, of course -- it's probably lower). So, what to do? Well, one thing they can do is lower the price of the wine to 50 bucks (200% over wholesale) and increase the price of the food to 150 bucks. But this has its problems. One problem is that they might lose customers if they charge $150 for the food, because even though the cost of the meal would, on average, be the same, $150 "feels" like a lot more than $100. The second problem is that they lose flexibility in terms of the kinds of customers they can have. Most restaurants are fundamentally about the food, and they may be willing to serve some people who choose a 45 dollar bottle of wine with their $100 food at a loss, because they know they can make up the difference on the high rollers at the next table who are paying $300 for their wine.
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I don't mind spending $100 a person for world-class food, but I do have a problem having to add $150-$300 for a halfway decent bottle of wine to go with it.
Let's take your model of $100 for food and $150 for wine. Would it make you feel better about the experience if they charged $175 for the same food and $75 for the same wine? Or are you saying that you'd like to have the same experience for only $175 (same $100 price for the food and only $75 for the wine)?
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Picked up a bottle of Belle de Brillet at Astor Wines and made a Pear Martini last night. We declared it delicious. Interesting about the lime... it doesn't really register as lime at all in the mix.
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This is one of the great things about Landmarc. Their wines are priced so low that they occasionally beat retail prices. I wish more restaurants would do this. Of course, part of what that means is charging 18 dollars for that plate of pasta instead of 15 dollars. Because the restaurants still need to make their money. I don't believe any of these places are pulling in obscene profits due to their wine markups.
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devi got a nice review in the feb 28 print edition of Crain's NY Business. nice picture, too.
Here is a link to the review, and a short excerpt for posterity:
Tandoor work is top-notch. A wild boar chop emerges from the clay oven tender and tame, and organic lamb chops are marinated in yogurt and spices, done to a succulent turn and served with sweet-and-sour pear chutney and curry leaf potatoes. Salt and mint run a footrace for savory supremacy. A crispy beef kabab is accompanied by spicy fig chutney and kachumber salad.If the menu says "spicy," believe it. A big bowl of vigorously seasoned shrimp biryani--which I enjoyed--had me reaching for the Kingfisher (beer) before bite No. 2. It was topped with cold lotus root chips. There are new twists on Indian breads (stuffed with parmesan and onions) and vegetarian dishes (lotus seeds in an onion-based sauce with ricotta cheese and cashews).
Reviewer Bob Lape gave Devi two stars out of a possible four.
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1. From the frypan category, the only pan that I seem not to use much is the saute pan. All the others, I have found, I prefer for different things. Example, for high heat searing of say tuna steaks, I prefer the cast iron; for frittatas, pancakes, scrambled eggs, the non-stick works; for pan roasting chicken and making pan sauces, i use the stainless stelel skillet.
Right. So it seems like you're pretty set in terms of that kind of pan. If you don't use the sauté pan, then maybe get rid of it (I love sauté pans and find them very useful, but different people have different cooking habits).
2. In the liquids category, I use the 8 qt AC stock pot as I only make 6 ounces maximum at any one time. I use a colander in the sink to drain the pasta. I am only thinking of purchasing the tall and narrow stockpot in a larger size in the event that I want to make stocks etc.Ah. Well, if you're cooking for one, then the 8 quart pot is probably just fine for pasta.
3. Also, in the liquids category, I use the 5 1/2 qt cast iron dutch oven for any stewing and braising like curries and fricasses. The 3 1/2 quart is the one I haven't used as much.4. This brings me to the real dilemma in the liquids category. I do not have appropriately-sized non-cast iron pans for making rice, porridge, rewarming soups/stock, etc. So the real question is which material, shape and size should I get for this? Ok let's say, I go for 2 quarts in the small/medium category, is it better to get a saucier or saucepan shape, copper or stainless steel? (BTW, the 3 1/2 qt cast iron dutch oven is way too big for some of the quantities that I make)
The rationale behind the saucepan or saucier in the 3 - 4 quart range, was to have an alternative size for making large quantities of say risotto , polenta etc. I also wanted the 2 quart and the 3 - 4 quart to be different shapes for more vaersatility
So, let's see what you have and what you want. You have:
3.5 quart vessel
5.5 quart vessel
You say: "the 3 1/2 qt cast iron dutch oven is way too big for some of the quantities that I make" which means that you want something smaller
You also say: "The rationale behind the saucepan or saucier in the 3 - 4 quart range, was to have an alternative size for making large quantities of say risotto, polenta etc."
So... you want something smaller than 3.5 quarts for rice, porridge, reheating soup, etc. What are the considerations: 1. None of these things inherently requires a fancy expensive straight gauge construction; 2. Anything that is "too small" to be done in the 3.5 quart pan is likely in the area of 1 quart; 3. Depending on the size of your burners, a small standard disk bottom saucepan might catch some heat around the base and cause scorching. I'd suggest you buy the least expensive 1.5 quart pan you can find that either has straight gauge construction (i.e., All-Clad MC2 from Cookware and More or Calphalon Try-Ply or something like that) or that has an extended encapsulated base, like ScanPan Steel. Any one of these pans would be overkill for the kinds of things you want to do, so I would try to find something on super-sale (for example, I have a couple of 1 quart All-Clad stainless saucepans I bought for 15 bucks on sale from Amazon).
So... after you buy this 1.5 quart pan, you will have:
1.5 quarts
3.5 quarts
5.5 quarts
I just don't see that you need another pan. For things like "large quantities of say risotto, polenta etc." I don't think you're going to do substantially better than the pans you already have. I still don't understand your desire for a "saucepan or saucier in the 3 - 4 quart range" when you already have a 3.5 quart pan made by one of the best manufacturers in the business. For what it's worth, when I am making large quantities of risotto, polenta, etc. I use my 6.8 Liter Le Creuset.
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. . . as others have pointed out, the Rose's Lime products we buy today really have no real resemblance to those the Gimlet was originally created with. Probably the homemade lime syrup folks are making above is closer to the Rose's of the past than the hyper saturated corn syrup sludge sold in those bottles.
Actually, it's not clear to me at all that today's Rose's isn't a reasonably close approximation of the old stuff (with better production techniques). At the least, I'd guess it's as close to the old Rose's as today's CocaCola is to the pre-corn syrup CocaCola -- and while there is definitely a difference, I don't think anyone would suggest that it is a radical one.
In any event, while I am sure it makes some difference, I'm not sure that the simple use of high fructose corn syrup is enough to make a radical change in the flavor profile. By and large, it's the "funky" flavor to which Rose's detractors object (and which Rose's fans enjoy). From what I can tell, that's always been there. Think about it: this stuff was carried around belowdecks in a barrel for months on end. If anything, this would make it taste more funky, not less. Reading Dave's cool historical information again, I noticed that he offered one interesting observation that many of us seem to have missed:
(Has anyone ever had loomi, the Middle-Eastern drink made from dried lemons/limes? It's got that same flavor to it, which suggests that Rose's owes its peculiar flavor to something other than preservatives.)Again, this suggests to me that the funky taste is something that was always a part of the Rose's flavor profile.
In terms of something that is reasonable true to the original, I think Rose's is it to the greatest extent possible. And remember, we have no reason to suppose that, e.g., the Plymouth Gin of today tastes all that much like 18th century Plymouth gin. What I think is quite clear is that the "lime zest infused simple syrup with a squeeze of fresh lime juice" is nothing like the original stuff.
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A. What I already own:
3 qt AC saute pan
10 1/4" Lodge Cast Iron skillet
10" AC skillet
10" Circulon non-stick skillet
3 1/2 qt LC round French Oven
5 1/2 qt LC round French Oven(do I really need both the 3 1/2 and the 5 1/2? which should I keep and if you recommend that I keep both, why?)
8 qt. AC hybrid stockpot/dutch oven
I've done a little reordering of your list. What I see is that you have four pans that are around ten inches in diameter -- two straight sided pans (the All-Clad sauté and the cast iron pan) and two slope-sided frypans. I think you're pretty set in this regard.
Then you have three pans for liquids. As I will explain below, I think you should keep them both.
B. As I said above, I need stockpots/saucepans for porridge, rice, risotto, polenta, etc.What I am looking at:
1 - 1.5 qt saucepan for melting butter, delicate sauces etc. etc OR the "try me" falk saucier
It depends. Melting butter doesn't really need a great pan. Are you really making delicate sauces and intense reductions? If so, this argues for the 1.4 quart "try me" curved sauteuse evasée from Falk if price is not a concern. But it would be a waste to buy an expensive pan if you'll be using it to melt butter.
2 qt tall straight gauge saucepan - rice, porridge, warming/reheating liquids, boiling eggs etc.(6 diam by 4) - is this ok?Why would you want a straight gauge pan for these things? Total waste of money. Also, if you're going to have a 1 - 1.5 quart saucepan, it's not clear to me what use it is to have a 2 quart saucepan as well. If you have a 1.5 quart saucepan, your next pan should be at least 3 quarts or larger.
Here's my question: What's wrong with sticking with the 3.5 quart Le Creuset pan you already have? All the things you seem to want to do here, the 3.5 quart Le Creuset will do just fine.
4 qt straight gauge saucepan(8 dia by 4 3/4) OR 4.5qt copper sautese evasee - whish is better(11 dia. by 3.6) - what do you think? saucepan or saucier? stay in the 4 qt range as above or drop to the 3 qt range? (you see i am kinda small and I have seen comments that suggest that the Falk 4.5 qt saucier is heavy)Why do you want a straight gauge saucepan at 4 - 4.5 quarts? What is it that you want to do with these pans that would make you want straight gauge construction? Huge portions of Hollandaise? Massive reductions of stock?
At the 4+ quart size, I think you're talking about a tall saucepan, which argues for disk-bottom construction. But again, what is it that you want to do with a 4 quart saucepan that you can't do with the 3.5 quart Le Creuset pan you already have?
12 or 16 quart tall stockpot (this I will get later but the previous 3 are really important)Given the cookware you already have, this would be #1 on my list. What are you using to boil water for pasta? Get a good 14 quart stock pot with a past strainer insert.
Again, why do you want one of these? What is it that you want to do that you can't do with the pans you already own? If you want to shallow fry, I think you'd do just fine with your cast iron skillet, your sauté pan or your larger Le Creuset French oven... much better off than you would be with the 2.25 quart Le Creuset buffet casserole (which, at 8 inches in diameter and 2.5 inches tall is more or less useless for shallow frying).2 1/4 qt LC buffet casserole(for shallow frying?)Cala, here's the thing... The question you need to ask yourself is: What do I want to do that I can't do well with the pans I already have? Once you identify those things, you can then start thinking about the best pans to do those things in a way that fits with your style of cooking, strengths and limitations. The wrong way to go about it, and what you seem to have done, is to ask yourself: What kinds of pans are there that I don't have? When you do this, you end up with a bunch of pans you paid too much for and don't use. Having a straight gauge copper pan you use only rarely to boil water or make rice is like having a Ferrari in the garage you only use to drive to the mailbox every couple of months.
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That's the stuff, Dave! Thanks for the history. I'm off to try a 4:1:1 Pegu Club right now. . .
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Just a quick moderator's note: Let's keep this thread about "Philly-style Steak" places in NYC and not diverge into a discussion about the archetypal places in the city of origin.
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In a companion piece to his newsday article on pizza, which kindly mentions the NY Pizza Survey and myself, Josh "Mr. Cutlets" Ozersky provides a list of "Where to get a great pizza" including the following pizzerie:
Manhattan:
- Patsy's East Harlem
- Una Pizza Napoletana
- Gnocco Caffe
- DeMarco's Pizzeria
- Sal & Carmine's Pizza
Queens:
- Sac's Place
- Rizzo's Pizza
- Nick's Pizza
- Gino's
- Singa's Famous Pizza
Brooklyn:
- Di Fara Pizza
- Totonno's Coney Island
- Peperoncino
- Grimaldi's
- Lento's
Long Island:
- Original Umberto's of New Hyde Park
- 34 New Street (Huntington Village)
- Massa's Coal Brick Oven Pizzeria (Huntington Station)
- Timothy's Pizza (Centerport)
- Eddie's Pizza (New Hyde Park)
Thoughts?
I have to say that I'm a bit taken aback that pizzerie like Franny's and Fornino -- places I consider among the very best in NYC -- aren't on the list. It also seems a bit odd that Arturo's isn't there either. It may not be as good as Patsy's East Harlem, but it's better than Sal & Carmine's for sure, and better than the two times I've been to DeMarco's as well. Then again, it's not a "best of" list but rather a "some good places" list. As such, it's reflective of Josh's likes and dislikes (which, as a major Di Fara partisan, includes a healthy enthisiasm for DeMarco's even though they admittedly have some kinks to iron out). Overall, though, I think it's a good list. I've been meaning to try Singa's.
- Patsy's East Harlem
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That's the big downfall of Grimaldi's: they're maddeningly inconsistent. JosephB has been there many more times than I, and he says that it's important to arrive soon after they've fired the oven (they only substantially fire the oven twice a day: once for lunch and once for dinner). The time the NY Pizza survey went there, we were the first ones in the door after they opened for lunch and the pizza was etherial. Other times it has been quite pedestrian.
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One thing I don't understand is why more bars don't simply maintain some kind of computerized recipe database (either customized by the establishment or with off-the-shelf recipes). If I were designing a bar where I expected to serve a wide variety of drinks, I'd put some kind of touch-screen searchable cocktail dabase screen under the bar (out of the customer's line of sight.
Because it's not rocket science to make a basically good cocktail from a basically good recipe -- even if you've never heard of the drink and never mixed one before.
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spiritchild posted an interesting Pegu Club-inspired variation over in another thread:
Hello, I've just joined. I have just finished my own version of the Pegu. Taking into consideration the sweetness brought by the Rose's to the original recipes, I used Calamansi lime juice, sweeter than regular lime juice. It worked well. At the risk of enraging any purists here, I also added an egg white. I really like the mouthfeel it created. I shook a few extra bitters (aromatic) on top of the foam and swirled them decoratively. The drink is quite pleasant; visually and flavor-wise.Kind of like a Pegu/Pisco Sour thing going on there.
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I am still wondering what the diamond does for you, though. I think I am with Sam on this one. Get that Calphalon pan for $20-25(US) and replace it every few years.
The beauty of the Calphalon Commercial Nonstick pans (and, one assumes the same will be true of the Calphalon One Nonstick pans when they go on super-sale) is that they cost the same as the kind of nonstick pans that last only a year, but they're triple (or quadruple, I forget which) coated with PTFE and the extremely durable coating lasts a long time.
The trick for nonstick, I think is: 1. only fry pans (I don't think it's useful for any other kind of pan); 2. don't use it as a general-puropse pan -- use it only for cooking tasks (eggs, delicate fish, etc) that really need nonstick; 3. only moderate heat; and 4. no metal utensils.
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Does Flor de Mayo or Pio Pio do take-out? I would love to try one at home.
Flor de Mayo does one better than that: they deliver.
A chicken, a huge container of rice (try the cilantro rice!) and a big container of flavorful black beans -- more than enough for two, can be delivered to your door for a ridiculously small price. This is one of the best deals in town.
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My illusions of James Bond as a lush are shattered.
I think he does that right up front when he says, "I never have more then one drink before dinner."
The World Bar in New York's Trump Tower is the home of the $50 martini, a mix of Remy XO and Pineau des Charentes, freshly pressed grape juice, topped with Veuve Clicquot champagne and a touch of 23-karat edible liquid gold.Uh, is "interesting" the right word? <sigh> Why even call it a Martini? Super Freedom 75 Deluxe, perhaps?
They don't call it a Martini. It's the press that calls it a Martini (presumably on the premise that every cocktail served up in a V-shaped glass is a "martini"). The drink is the World Cocktail, formerly named The World's Most Expensive Cocktail. The price is silly, of course, but fundamentally it's a publicity thing (and it's worked).
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I just spoke with the good people at Quaker (1-800-MY-GRITS) and they confirmed that Quaker Grits are indeed no longer made with hominy. They are made with regular old dry corn.
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Convert-Me.com is a very convenient web site for converting all kinds of measures.
1 gill = 4 ounces = 11.8 centiliters (118.3 milliliters)
1/6 gill = 2/3 ounce = 1.97 centiliters (19.72 milliliters)
25 milliliters (2.5 centiliters) = 0.85 ounces = 0.21 gills
For all intents and purposes, the old bar measure of 1/6 gill was 2 cl and the new bar measure of 2.5 cl is 1/5 gill. So the bar measure became effectively 25% larger with the switch to metric measures.
What this means about Bond's drink is a bit more complicated. Casino royale was published in 1953. As far as I know, the UK begain to adopt metric measures sometime around 1965. This means that the original Vesper was probably measured in gills and not in centiliters. Something like this:
3/6 gill Gordon's gin
1/6 gill vodka
1/12 gill Lillet Blanc
Or, converted to ounces:
2 ounces Gordon's gin
2/3 ounce vodka
1/3 ounce Lillet Blanc
Certainly not a large drink by modern standards. Probably 4 ounces or a little more after dilution with water from melting ice.
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Question: Who cares whether it is coated with diamond dust? What is supposed to be the benefit?
Personally, although extra thick aluminum (which I take to mean >5 cm) is a great thing to have, I can't see spending a hundred bucks on a nonstick pan.
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I forget the title of the thread I'm remembering...
Let's continue any such discussion on that thread.
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The drink comes from Ian Fleming's "Casino Royale" thus:
"A dry martini," he said. "One. In a deep champagne goblet.""Oui, monsieur."
"Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon-peel. Got it?"
"Certainly, monsieur." The barman seemed pleased with the idea.
"Gosh, that's certainly a drink," said Leiter.
Bond laughed. "When I'm . . . er . . .concentrating," he explained, "I never have more then one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold and very well-made. I hate small portions of anything, particularly when they taste bad. This drink's my own invention. I'm going to patent it when I can think of a good name."
He watched carefully as the deep glass became frosted with the pale golden drink, slightly aerated by the bruising shaker. He reached for it and took a long sip.
"Excellent," he said to the barman, "but if you can get a vodka made with grain instead of potatoes, you will find it still better."
He names it the "Vesper" (not the "Vesper Martini") after the hot female double agent in the book named Vesper Lynd. This is the only book, afaik, in which Bond drinks a Vesper.
There's a ton of press clippings about the Algonquin's publicity mechanism drink on their web site.
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Anyone tried this method with Corona beans?
They are gigantic (around the size of a small thumb before they're cooked) and I am a little concerned that they'll take forever to cook and get all torn up on the outside if I don't soak them. The thing is that Corona beans are quite expensive, so I'm a little hesitant to do the trial and error thing.
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All these pots will work just fine on the stove. Personally, I think Staub is the best. Heavier construction. I think the matte black enamel is better for browning. And I think the "basting spikes" are cool. But they'll all do well, I think. It's a matter of preference.
Wine Markups in NYC
in New York: Dining
Posted
This is, I think, a big part of the problem. Much like with rent control, it's a system whereby some people pay more and cover costs associated with someone else. I'm not saying that it's a good system. I'd rather have a system like they have at Landmarc. But... there has to be a reason why the system is the way it is. Most likely it is because restaurants have found that it's easier to make the profits they need to make with this kind of price structure. This is to say that they have considered bumping up the price of the food and reducing the price of the wine, and have decided that it isn't the right choice. Think about it: don't you think it would hurt, e.g., Daniel's business if the five course prix fixe were $200 instead of $125?
Most likely the answer is that people wouldn't be so willing to pay that kind of markup. Maybe it's because they're more used to paying high prices for wine, or maybe it's because people undervalue food because of the historical pricing practices. It's one thing for Landmarc to charge $18 for a plate of pasta instead of $15 so they can sell wine at low prices, but at the high end where you're talking about raising the food prices much higher in order to bring down the price of wine I think it wouldn't be so easy to do.